"Titanic: 20 Years Later with James Cameron" Special Marks 20th Anniversary of Blockbuster Film "Titanic"

22 November 2017

Cameron and Ballard kneeling next to unfinished ship model: National Geographic/Mark Fellman

"Titanic: 20 Years Later with James Cameron"
Debuting Sunday, November 26 at 9 PM ET/PT
on National Geographic Channel

Thirty-two years after the discovery and 20 years after the blockbuster movie, the Titanic story is still evolving in unexpected ways and now, National Geographic, from executive producer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron, premieres Titanic: 20 Years Later With James Cameron, examining two decades of new revelations. This one-hour documentary event special commemorates the 20th anniversary of the film “Titanic,” the highest-grossing movie in history until Cameron’s “Avatar,” and a turning point for researchers of the Titanic, inspiring dives to the wreck, a host of books and countless documentaries.

Titanic: 20 Years Later With James Cameron debuts globally on National Geographic in 171 countries and 45 languages. Right after the 2-hour premiere, stay tuned to National Geographic for a brand-new episode of StarTalk with Neil DeGrasse Tyson at 11 PM ET/PT, featuring an interview with James Cameron.

Titanic: 20 Years Later With James Cameron looks back at all the critical choices made during the film and puts them to the test facing a wealth of new resources — including new underwater footage, computer-generated simulation and scholarly research. Cameron speaks with the descendants of John Jacob Astor, Molly Brown, and Isidor and Ida Straus, bringing renewed awareness to the generations of families impacted by the loss of the Titanic.

Taking audiences through his personal journey in making the film, Cameron creates a living history, giving context to the choices he made during production based on the historical facts and science available at the time. Looking through the filter of the film itself, and the choices Cameron made as writer, producer and director, the documentary explores the movie through a fresh lens utilizing intelligence compiled over the past 20 years.

To consider the evolution of knowledge since the film was made, Cameron assembles a team of the world’s leading Titanic experts, including National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Robert Ballard, who discovered the Titanic in 1985 and is on camera with Cameron in their first joint interview ever. Also included are Parks Stephenson (historian, documentarian and naval systems engineer), Don Lynch (historian and author) and Ken Marschall (visual historian and world’s foremost creator of Titanic artwork).

Photo: National Geographic/James Glader

Cameron and his team of experts visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, home to a Titanic exhibit that features set pieces from the film and real artifacts from the ocean liner itself, giving audiences a sense of the magnitude of loss felt over 100 years ago. There, Ballard and Cameron discuss the recently declassified information regarding Ballard’s discovery of the Titanic wreckage while on a secret mission for the U.S. Navy. Cameron and his team also explore the accuracy of scenes from the movie compared with the same locales buried in the ocean and the unexpected impact the film had on audiences worldwide.

Cameron’s epic 1997 film “Titanic” won 11 Oscars and grossed more than $2 billion worldwide. Its re-release in 3-D by Cameron in 2012 broke box office records in China, making it — at the time — the biggest opening ever in the country.

Mysteries have endured and Cameron, who has made more than 30 dives to explore the Titanic, brings together a team of engineers, naval architects, artists and historians to solve the lingering questions of why and how an “unsinkable” ship sank. This investigation will give an updated interpretation of what happened to the Titanic on April 14, 1912.

This area is reserved for members of the news media. If you qualify, please update your user
profile and check the box marked "Check here to register as an accredited member of the news media". Please include any notes
in the "Supporting information for media credentials" box. We will notify you of your status via e-mail in one business day.